Prince Charles may face court over his ‘intervention’ in £3bn plan for Chelsea Barracks

Papers lodged in the High Court claim the Prince is the
main influence behind an alleged breach of contract in
the Chelsea Barracks redevelopment

Prince Charles is expected to be called as a key witness if a £100million case being brought by property tycoons the Candy brothers against their former Qatari partners goes to court.

Papers lodged in the High Court last Friday claim the Prince is the main influence behind an alleged breach of contract by the Qataris in the £3billion redevelopment of Chelsea Barracks.

Qatari Diar, the development arm of the country’s royal family, withdrew its planning application for the South-West London site just a week before it was due to be considered by Westminster Council.

The claim alleges this was ‘the direct result of an intervention in the planning process by His Royal Highness Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales’.

Earlier this year, The Mail on Sunday revealed that the Prince had written to the Qatari royal family, with whom he has personal links, complaining that plans for a complex of steel and glass at the barracks were ‘unsympathetic’ and ‘unsuitable’.

Charles, a critic of the scheme’s architect Lord Rogers, was particularly incensed that the site was across the road from Sir Christopher Wren’s Royal Hospital, home to the Chelsea Pensioners.

Instead, he urged the planners to adopt a more classical design.

The CPC Group – the Guernsey-based investment arm of Candy & Candy – claims that because of this intervention, Qatari Diar failed to ‘use all reasonable endeavours to pursue the application’, causing a breach of contract.

The proposed Chelsea Barracks redesign: Prince Charles is a critic of the scheme's architect Lord Rogers

Although the papers do not specify how much CPC wants in damages, it is alleged the Candys are owed £81million in ‘deferred payment’ from when they sold their interest in the project to Qatari Diar at the end of last year.

Last night, a source said that if the brothers succeed in establishing there was a breach, their next move will be to claim damages of around £100million.

CPC will say that the contract required both parties to pursue planning approval, which would have triggered that deferred payment. And it will allege the Qataris failed to perform this duty by withdrawing the bid just a week before it was due to be considered.

How the Army base looked before it was earmarked for redevelopment

A source close to the project said: ‘The documents do not spell it out, but there is a clear suggestion that the Prince would have to answer questions about this in court.

‘If the application had gone to the committee and had been either approved or rejected, then Qatari Diar would have been in the clear.

‘But by withdrawing it prior to any decision being made, they have laid themselves open.’

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The papers also question Qatari Diar’s claim that it was entitled to withdraw the application because London Mayor Boris Johnson had planned to direct Westminster Council to refuse the scheme.

CPC will argue that although Mr Johnson had expressed reservations about the development, he had not yet decided to direct refusal at that time.

It will, therefore, insist the withdrawal was a direct result of Prince Charles’s opposition.

In a section of the document entitled ‘The intervention by the Prince of Wales’, CPC claims that in late February, Charles wrote to the chairman of Qatari Diar, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al Thani, urging him to ‘reconsider’ his company’s plans for the barracks.

Soon after, John Ward, head of the firm’s London office, discussed the Prince’s views with his private secretary, Sir Michael Peat.

Although the claim does not state this specifically, the Emir then met with Prince Charles at Clarence House on May 11. Four weeks later, the Chelsea Barracks plans were withdrawn.

The source said: ‘Because only the Prince and the Emir were in the room at the time, only two people know exactly what was said.

‘That means it is expected that CPC will want the Prince, not an aide, to testify as to what transpired at that meeting.’

The case’s first court hearing is scheduled for Tuesday. Qatari Diar has yet to lodge a defence.

A spokesman for Prince Charles said: ‘Neither the Prince of Wales nor his office have any knowledge of, or involvement with contractual matters between Qatari Diar and Candy & Candy.’

The Candys declined to comment last night.

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Prince Charles may face court over his ¿intervention¿ in £3bn plan for Chelsea Barracks